1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pedal apparatus for use in an electronic musical instrument, the pedal apparatus controlling the manner in which a musical tone is generated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, it is known that a pedal apparatus for use in an electronic musical instrument is designed to provide a player with a feeling similar to that perceived by a player on manipulation of a pedal of an acoustic piano. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-334008 discloses a pedal apparatus which has a lever that pivots in response to a depression of a pedal and a first spring and a second spring provided in parallel in order to urge the lever. The disclosed pedal apparatus is designed such that only the first spring urges the lever if the lever is shallowly depressed, whereas the first spring and the second spring urge the lever if the lever is depressed by a certain amount or more. Therefore, the disclosed pedal apparatus provides a player with a feeling as if the pedal became heavier at a certain point of a depression of the pedal. By such a structure, the disclosed pedal apparatus imitates the feeling perceived by the player when he manipulates a damper pedal of an acoustic piano.